SNP Court Battle not over yet!

So we lost the court battle today to get an interdict forcing the BBC to either include the SNP in its final Election Debate or to only show it outwith Scotland. We lost it on a number of counts including the "wholesale disruption" it would cause if the court were to agree to the SNP's request.


It may be over in terms of tomorrow's debate but it's not over in terms of the legal battle and the judicial review moves on.


No court ruling however, can take away from the fact that it is COMPLETELY UNJUST for the SNP to be excluded. After all, these debates are what seem to be having the biggest influence on voting intentions at this election. That was plain to see when suddenly the Lib Dems shot up in popularity simply because Nick Clegg impressed folk at the first debate.


From our point of view, we're competing with the Lib Dems in Scotland. They were not a huge threat to our vote in Scotland until that debate. And now, not because they've suddenly come up with great policies but because their leader came across well in a debate, they are a threat to our vote. People who might have voted SNP will be considering the Lib Dems more seriously.


And how can we have an equal chance? By participating in one of the debates. That's all we were asking for but the BBC denied us that chance. As Nicola said earlier we'll now move on to another court, the court of the people of Scotland. But if we thought we had a fight on our hands before, it just got a whole lot more difficult - free publicity to millions of voters for Labour, Tories and the Lib Dems vs ordinary foot soldiers in the SNP knocking on doors. Ach, it's the way we've always worked, we'll just have to get on with it.